I'm smitten with mittens and kittens

Just finished these Noro mitts for a recipient-who-cannot-be-named as yet. They are such an easy, quick knit and I love the colours. I've knitted them before, but without the wrist cuff. The pattern is by mimoknits. And I made them using magic loop which I'd never done before. I love the method for speed and lack of fiddliness.


For once, a completed project with no fudging (cough, cough, I mean creative re-engineering). I must admit, due to my tendency to always be doing something as well as knitting, most projects I do end up with a bit of creative fudging due to lack of concentration. Hence you don't see much lacework round these here parts, despite the possibility of using lifelines, at least not yet - although I seem to manage complicated lace-effect pattern in socks. It has to be a really bad mistake for me to frog. But I don't mind that - I like finding creative solutions to problems. And if I wanted to buy a perfect piece of apparel, I'd go to a shop and buy it, but where's the fun in that?

So, I have a question for you - what kind of knitter are you? A creative engineer? A perfectionist? Or somewhere in between?

And I'm in a very inquisitive mood tonight, so I'd also like to ask, what is your favourite method of knitting? Do you like the intricacies of lace work, the effect of cables or the challenge of stranded colourwork?

My absolute favourite way to work is fairisle knitting and the absolute best bit of that? Choosing the colours. I often have to reproduce part of the design on graph paper and try out the different colour combinations to see how they go together. It's so easy to see any mistakes in colourwork almost straight away - that must be why I feel an affinity with it! So, having said that, my first idea for the South Hill Park craft fair we're doing in November didn't live up to my expectations, so back to the drawing board, this time with the thought of fairisle at the forefront.

These almost invisible sock blockers arrived from the States last week (or was it the week before?) I bought them from an Etsy seller called SevenYaks, they will never warp or leave splinters in my socks and have handy-dandy needle measurement holes (which I'll probably never use).

Soooo, I just had to re-photo all my socks with the new blockers wearing them - next step is to actually block them properly.

And finally, one real kitten all tucked up snug

And one Halloween cat of the pink and fluffy variety